Embracing Eternity
by Threedaysunrise
Summary: Eternity seemed so much bleaker when facing it alone. An act of faith will bring Hagi back to Saya’s side, and together they must face both the sorrows and joys that will come with eternity. [Final Conclusion]
1. Prologue

**Author's Note**: This fic has heavy spoilers for the final episode. So if you have yet to watch it and don't want it ruined, then I _**highly**_ advise you not to read it. Then again, if you're impatient like me, then you can go over to YouTube and watch it from there or you can just read and act surprised come the time of the final episode. 

Whatever you choose, enjoy.

* * *

**Embracing Eternity**

**-**

Disclaimer: I do not own Blood Plus

_Threedaysunrise_

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**Prologue**

**- **

"_I want to live together with Kai, Hagi, and everyone else. I want to live together with everyone."_

"_From now on, you can live the way you want."_

"_Love today, and smile tomorrow."_

"_Farewell Diva. My other self."_

"_Nankurunaisa. I love you."_

"_HAGI!"_

"_I really didn't like him at first. But like me, he cares about you very much. He might suddenly show up one of these days…_

_"If you call, he will come."_

"_Take me to the place where I began."_

"_Saya, you taught me about the tomorrow that I'm living for. That's why you've been fighting. It wasn't just for your own happiness but for every one else's happiness as well. That's all you were thinking about._

"_I promise to make them happy so…sleep well, Saya."_

The self-induced sleep didn't feel like any of the others. With the others, there was nothing. She would simply fall asleep one moment and wake up the within the next, thirty years having passed. But this time…this time was different. Voices, words, images of people and their presence in her previous life continued to haunt (or remind; having yet to decide which) her normally dreamless sleep.

Feelings and emotions had also absent in prior sleeps, but were undoubtedly present in this one. She felt frightened of waking up—of seeing all the people around her fade with age while she stayed eternally young. She was afraid of seeing them die. Even greater, she was afraid to face an eternity without the one who promised to be there for her. How could she even begin to journey through the eras without Hagi by her side?

Maybe she was cursed to live this existence by herself…

The image of Hagi being buried underneath the rubble at the Met played and replayed like an old-fashioned film through her mind. She hated revisiting that memory and yet clung to it so dearly.

Shortly after the destruction, when life had fell back into its normal pattern, Kai had told her to simply call for him and he would come. But she had been afraid. And she still was afraid. What if she called for him and he didn't come? That would only be confirming her fears of his death. No, she would handle that when she awoke. Maybe…just maybe, he would be there, waiting for her and they could start off the new life together.

But fear was still her constant companion.

She was being foolish, Saya knew. In all possibilities, Julia could be close to finding a cure to keep her awake permanently. Her nieces could already be dating, and Kai…how was Kai faring after all these years?

Why couldn't she just stop thinking!? Why couldn't she just stop dreaming!?

Suddenly, her subconscious summoned up an image of Diva. But this wasn't the crazed woman that had been her sister. Diva's hair was shoulder length and her crystalline blue eyes calm—serene, almost. In her hands, Saya's baby nieces cooed and gurgled happily.

"_You took this away from me."_

Diva's voice didn't match the image she looked upon. Instead it was dripping heavily with a malice and hate. Guilt rose within her nonetheless. '_I had to. You were costing humanity of its life.'_

"_So I was the one to die while you get to live happily with your little Chevalier? How righteous of you, Saya. But did you forget we share the same blood? I was the same as you and you are the same as me. That will never change."_

Diva's image abruptly disappeared and was quickly replaced by Riku's smiling countenance.

"_We'll be a family, won't we, Saya?"_

Tears slipped down the face of her dream-self. '_Yes, Riku. We're a family.'_

Riku's imaged faded even faster that Diva's and suddenly Hagi stood before her. His hand was still that of a chiropteran and his clothes seemed worn and tattered. He held out his good hand; beautiful eyes at peace.

_"Wake up Saya. It's time."_

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_I really don't know when I'll be updating this, so consider this a test run to see how everyone likes the beginning. Chapter one will make up for this one in length. _

_Please tell me your thoughts in a review!_


	2. Sigh of Remembrance

**Author's Note:** I must say I was quite surprised to get such a response just by the prologue. So consider this extremely rare quick update for those of you who reviewed. That and I also wanted to post it before school started and before all my time is sucked up. (Bah!)

Read and Enjoy

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**Embracing Eternity**

_Chapter One: A Sigh of Remembrance_

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Awareness came slowly. Saya's heartbeat thundered to life from the apathetic, drawn out beat that it had adapted to and its sudden exuberance heated her blood, and brought feeling back to her body. It was so much a gradual process, of which ten minutes passed before the young Queen was forcibly pushed from the goo-like membrane onto the stone cold floor of the family grave, curled about in the fetal position; mind still muddled with sleep. She gasped—air filling her deflated lungs after so long. 

It took but a moment for her breathing to even out to normal. But it was her eyes that had the hardest time adjusting for they stung with the cold, stagnant air of the tomb. She waited for them to clear.

Though her mind was still murky, Saya searched the dim interior while attempting to push herself up to her knees. She zeroed in on the east wall that was filled with messily taped pictures and attempted to crawl closer or a greater view.

'_Kai and Riku—my brothers,' _their smiling faces beamed up at her expectantly. Saya's mahogany eyes shifted to the next photo, following the messy train in the proper order.

'_Julia, David, Lulu, Kaori…'_

With each picture she stared at, the fog of her mind began to dissipate with remembrance. Her eyes located a picture with two smiling girls who were nearly identical in appearance. '_My nieces,'_

A breath that she did not realize she had been holding fell past her lips in relief. She remembered!

Beside the picture was a note written in Kai's scraggly hand-writing.

_Saya,_

_Rise n' shine, sunshine. If Julia's transfusion worked, you'll be waking up twenty years early. I'll explain later. By the way, I've left you a pair of clothes by the door._

_-Kai_

Her eyes scanned it two or three times before glancing toward the door. Sure enough, her brother had been kind enough to leave and old pair of sweats and a tank top in a small, leather satchel. Quickly she slipped them on, making a mental note to thank Kai.

But her mind was already captured. Twenty years early? She would be seeing her nieces while they were still young—and Kai before he became a grouchy old man. How often had she dreamed of staying awake and not being shackled by time… of not being chained in the same familiar rhythm? So why did this knowledge disquiet her? There was no denying Saya's relief that thirty years had not passed, but what of its consequences? It was either stay asleep and awaken thirty years later, expecting the deaths of those she knew, or staying awake and living just to _watch_ them die.

It was all just an endless circle of pain. And there was no preventing it; she was _tired_ of trying to.

The youthful-appearing woman paused before pushing open the tomb doors when the taunting cries of children sounded from outside its walls. With one last brief hesitation, Saya stepped out into the blinding sunlight while blinking furiously at the pain the light caused from years of darkness. At that moment, her ears were her only gateway to her surroundings.

"Playing at the graveyard, again, freaks?" The voice belonged to a little boy but it sounded like a mere squeak in Saya's ears. His companions snickered.

"We're not freaks!" This time the voice belonged to a girl—two, apparently, for they responded in unison.

"Aren't you?" The boy taunted once more, "You guys come to play at this cemetery every day. What are you waiting for, the dead to com back alive? Or are you and your family some kind of twisted vampire? Yeah, hold your sister back, Miyoko. It's not like she can do anything to me anyway!"

She grew agitated while listening to them. After thirty years—or ten years, this was _not_ what she wanted to wake to. Her vision finally adjusted to the light and Saya found herself watching three little boys hovering over two, tense little girls—twins.

Their torturing continued until even Saya winced at its brutality.

In her slow decent down the stairs, she must have made some kind of noise for no sooner was she about to yell, when the boys caught sight of her and paled by the mere thought of getting caught. They stumbled over each other in their hurry to escape the expected trouble.

Giving one last glare toward the disappearing boys, the twins looked her way; their beautiful faces brightening in pure child delight.

"Auntie Saya, Auntie Saya!"

Her suspicions had been correct and she fell to her knees so she could meet their eyes from a more personal view; joy filling her as she studied their expectant faces. Saya reached out a gentle hand to the face of the twin who had the blue eyes. "You're Miyuki?"

The girl giggled happily, confirming her guess. _'Eyes so much like Diva's'_

Saya turned to the twin whose eyes were like wine, and so like her own. She brushed the child's raven hair from her face. "And you're Miyoko."

This twin merely nodded her head and gave a shy smile.

Her heart twisted in some unknown emotion and Saya embraced the twins for the longest moment, and they seemed willing enough to let her. "My girls…"

'_No, Saya, they're my girls. And to think, you almost killed them because of that. But just you wait and watch, dear sister, they'll turn out to be just like me…'_

Diva's voice in her head startled her, making her doubt the decision made ten years ago for the briefest of seconds, and shame filled her because of it. Yes, they were Diva's children, but they were_ her_ nieces. A part of her also lived inside of them.

Saya pushed thoughts of Diva into the deepest corners of her mind before she pulled back; tears glazing over her eyes as she studied them from head to foot. "How did you girls get here? Did Kai come with you?"

Guilt flashed across Miyoko's face while Miyuki's turned mischievous.

Saya's heart sank. "You didn't…"

"Yep! We ran really, really fast till we flew!"

The elder Queen groaned, placing her hands wearily in her long, raven locks. Poor Kai. They had been just the handful she had been expecting. "What does Kai say to this?"

The twins giggled in unison. "Kai…I mean, daddy," Miyoko began, "Doesn't really know." Miyuki finished off. "We were just so excited to see you." They both paused.

"Hey Auntie Saya?"

"Hmm?"

"Where is Mr. Hagi?"

It was amazing how, by just a single question, all her horrors would shroud her like a physical weight, making her body tremble from the effort it took just to keep from falling limp to the ground. Miyoko and Miyuki, noticing their aunt's drastic change, grew worried.

"Auntie Saya?"

"I don't know," her voice wavered. "I really don't know."

Her niece's countenances sobered with a similar sorrow that mirrored her own; it was as if they sympathized with the depth of her pain.

But how could they? They were ten.

Then again, Miyoko and Miyuki were Diva's daughters and her nieces. They weren't exactly what people would call 'normal'.

The twins gave a hand to each of her shoulders; a comforting gesture that affected her more that she would have expected.

"It's alright, Auntie Saya. You must have faith in Mr. Hagi!" said Miyuki.

"Yeah! You need faith!" Miyoko had to add in her two cents.

Her nieces were truly more diverse than a child their age should have been. It was that or they were just far more perceptive than any other ten-year-olds. Saya smiled at the effort the girls made to make her happy. They had only just met.

Her smile seemed to placate them for their worried expressions softened. It was time for a subject change.

"Since I haven't regained all my strength just yet, and since it's too far to walk, will you guys go get Kai for me? Don't worry, I'll be waiting for you here."

Miyoko and Miyuki agreed somewhat reluctantly, knowing full well that punishment was surely to come when they explained their whereabouts to Kai.

So Saya found herself alone at the family grave, and alone with the plaguing fears of her mind. She sprawled out on a thick rug of grass with a groan, finally allowing her eyes to close with the pain that had become physical inside her chest.

'_There is no more fighting,'_ she thought, comprehending and weighing out its full meaning. _'There is nothing left to do. I am free.' _

She wrapped her arms around her abdomen; a hand fisting in the folds of her clothing above her heart.

'_So it all comes down to an eternity alone. This is the price of living?'_

_

* * *

_

Kai slammed the brake on his motorbike so hard, that for the briefest of seconds his rear tire became air born. Clamoring off his bike, he threw off his helmet into the grass and began the long race up the stairs.

He knew that if he would just slow down, he might actually make more progress (instead of stupidly tripping over his own feet). But he couldn't stop the excitement from racing with his body. When he finally reached the top, Kai was crouching over from lack of oxygen; gasping for the breath in his lungs that wasn't there.

Gaze desperately searching; Kai caught sight of Saya's small form when she turned to look at him. "Saya!"

Tears filled her burgundy eyes and a breathtaking smile formed upon her lips. He ran to her and she met him half way, jumping into his embrace. Kai's fears melted away with the contact. Saya _remembered!_

There was no comprehending the relief and joy that swelled inside his gut.

"You haven't changed a bit, Saya." Her long hair ghosted past his nose, tickling it. Saya laughed brokenly before pulling away to gently cup his face in her hands.

"And you look even more handsome than the last time I saw you," She tugged at his hair gently. "I half expected you have grown gray by the time I woke up."

A faint blush covered his face but he smiled nonetheless. "Yeah, well, Julia found the missing cells and enzymes in your blood about a year ago. And it was six months ago when we did the first transfusion. All we could do was to wait and see. Ever since the first transfusion, I suspect, Yuki and Yoko had been coming up here just to be here when you awoke."

His gaze softened. "You have no idea how much those girls have wanted to meet you."

"I know," Saya smiled, "They told me. I'm just glad to meet them while they're still young."

Kai placed an arm around Saya's shoulders and mussed her hair in brotherly affection. "Let's go home. By now the girls have already spread the word, and I know there will be a lot of people anxious to see you."

She nodded, giving one last look toward her resting place before turning to descend down the stairs. Kai could pride himself in becoming a keen observer over the years, so he didn't miss the flash of anguish in his sister's eyes; knowing instantly its source.

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her Hagi was still alive, but something held him back.

Kai was well aware of Saya's fear of loosing those close to her, and knew that she would eventually have to face the knowledge that she would live on while her friends and family would fade with time.

While he had been the one to tell her to live, it was Hagi's input that reassured her and diminished all doubt.

Hagi had been Saya's hold on sanity through the centuries, and it was Hagi who she loved, and it was _Hagi_ who was able to remain by her side forever. And Kai knew that Saya thought she had lost all of that—or was afraid of it being confirmed. Hell, even Kai found the prospect of spending an eternity alone a blow to his composure, and utterly terrifying.

His heart ached for his sister, and he briefly wondered if waking her up had been a selfish ambition of his; one that had been indescribably cruel.

Kai pushed away the thought.

No. Saya, no matter the pain, would want to be awake for the passing of those dear to her rather than to awaken thirty years later, more alone than ever.

An eternal youth, it seemed, was not as wonderful as people made it out to be.

* * *

The reunion was a joyous one. Kai, with the assistance of Miyuki and Miyoko, who were more intimately called Yuki and Yoko, called everyone over and they had a get-together similar to the one the night she fell asleep. Saya had been ecstatic to meet David and Julia's son, Sam, and was even more tickled to find that both her nieces had a crush on the younger boy. 

For the entire evening, Yuki and Yoko had attached themselves to Saya's side, making sure that even in the midst of everyone and everything else, they weren't to be forgotten. Saya felt as if she had known them forever and was happy to find them even closer as sisters.

She had even discovered that Kaori was engaged to marry and was anxious to get the juicy details from her friend.

Night had long since fallen and Saya found herself sitting alone at the countertop, running her fingers deep within her hair. All was quiet until she heard the soft cracking of Kai's foot as he walked into the room.

"I just put the girls down," he said, sitting across from her. "But I don't' think they'll stay down. They're just too wound up."

She smiled, saying nothing.

Kai narrowed his gaze at his sister's profile and pursed his lips.

"Whenever you're not talking to someone, Saya, you become quiet and withdrawn. Why?"

"I don't—"

"Yes you do. Don't deny it," he paused. "What's been bothering you?"

His probing gaze would not leave her face and her shoulders fell with defeat. "I've just been thinking. About the future, mostly."

A deeper sense of understanding filled him, but Kai, was once again at a loss at how to comfort his sister. He may know of Saya's situation and life in vast detail, but he didn't know the _experience_. Grudgingly, he wished for Hagi's presence, knowing it would have been a drastic help. _He_ would have known what to say to Saya to comfort her. He was, after all, the source of her lapsing depression.

"It would hurt him," he said. "To know he is the cause of your sadness."

Saya's hands clenched the folds of her nightgown until they were white as stark.

"Saya, do you trust Hagi?"

The question caught her by surprise. "What?"

"Do you trust him?" he repeated.

"With all my heart, I do."

"Then remember what I said to you before you fell asleep. Take a chance, Saya. Call for him. I know you're afraid that he won't come, but I also know your misery will be just as great if you don't. Have faith, little sister."

Saya allowed herself a smile and chuckled dryly. "That's funny. Yuki and Yoko said the exact same thing to me."

Standing up, he gave her a wink before starting toward the stairs. "What can I say; I raised a couple of smart girls. Goodnight, Saya."

"Goodnight, Kai."

* * *

With some reluctance, Saya made her way to her old bedroom where she was greeted with the familiar large metal case of Hagi's cello. Despite the swirl of emotions becoming greater inside her chest, Saya's fingers began to itch. 

In her mind the autopilot clicked, and without really knowing what she was doing, Saya ran her fingers gently across its cold exterior. Small nicks and scratches covered its surface, and she knew such damage had been inevitable during so many years of battle. She was genuinely surprised to see it had lived and survived to such a condition. She unlatched the hooks and lifted its cover gently.

There was a softness that came into her eyes as she gazed at the antique instrument and a delicateness that entered her fingertips as she lifted it from its nestled home. With the many years of skilled practice returning, Saya sat on the bed to place the cello in between her knees and drew the bow against its strings.

She relished in the familiarity of its hum as its vibration traveled through her body.

With more confidence, she drew it once more against the strings and began to weave a song from the past. Saya was no longer Saya as she leaned her brow against the cello's neck, immersing herself in its long and complicated story. The longer she played the more her thoughts became that of the song's.

'_Hagi,'_ she thought, reaching the climax of the piece. _'If you can hear me, if you are alive…'_

She lingered on a single, mournful note.

'_Come back to me.'_

_

* * *

__So what did you think? I've seen too many fics where Hagi just suddenly 'appears' and so I wanted to try a different approach. I know Hagi has always made an effort to come when he feels Saya has awakened but, for a change, let's make Saya do something!_

_Also, I think the names I've chosen for Diva's twins have been used. This was unintentional. I really did go online in search of Japanese names and I stumbled across these and I liked their meaning. It helped me to add personality to their characters instead of just classifying them as 'twins'._

_Miyuki (the twin who has Diva's eyes, ) means 'beautiful happiness' and I thought it appropriate because of its contrast with Diva. And Miyoko means 'beautiful generation child'._

_Please drop a review!_

_**-Threedaysunrise**_


	3. Monster

**Author's Note**: Sorry that it has taken me so long to get this posted. I knew what I wanted to write and yet I was having a hard time figuring the best rout to get there. School hasn't been the best help, either. So this is version two of the three I came up with. The first being I made it too marysue and the third being completely unbelievable. So here it is, finally. I did by best to capture Saya's feelings and thoughts as well as I could but be nice—I still haven't finished the series. Read, enjoy, and review.

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_Chapter Two: Monster

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_

"_Dear Sister, you've come to visit me yet again? I'm touched." Diva sighed dramatically, placing her bony fingers over the fabric of her delicate dress, mockingly. "I never received such pleasant visits from you when I was alive. Who knew you would have missed me so!"_

_Saya grimly faced her sister in the moving shadows of the Tower, watching as Diva gently picked the luminescent blue rose from the vine on the windowsill. She clenched her hand around the thorns. _

"_I am your other half," Saya said without emotion. "It's only natural that a part of you would remain with me—given choice or not."_

_Diva laughed gaily; her melodious voice sounding very much like gentle chimes. _

"_Ah, Saya. Charming as always, I see. But you shouldn't be so testy with me, dear sister, for I am, after all, only a figment of your imagination; the butting essence of a memory, if you will." _

_The scene changed abruptly to one of only recent familiarity—one that accelerated Saya's heart in a raw, aggressive fear and that chilled the fire of her blood. _

_They stood as mere apparitions in Yuki's and Yoko's room. Diva glided gracefully to their bedside with a secret behind her unfathomable blue eyes and a knowing smile upon her sculpted lips. Hungrily, she watched the steady rise and fall of their chests. _

"_So beautiful…" she murmured. "And so full of life. Can you imagine it, Saya? The day my daughters slip from your precious control and have their first real taste of that delectable liquid as it slips past their throat, or of that succulent flesh as they sink their teeth into their first, fragile human…"_

_Saya's hands clenched. Anger filled her. "They won't become like you, Diva, they've been raised as humans; just like I was, for however brief a time."_

_Her younger sister finally looked away from her sleeping daughters and glared icily at Saya; her lips twisting a smile of arrogance. "Instinct can't always be ignored, Saya. Even when you thought you were human, you lost control to that beautiful ecstasy."_

"_It wasn't ecstasy, it was a torturous necessity." Saya countered._

"_Ah, but only you would see it as torture, dearest sister, only you."_

_It was in that moment that their surroundings changed once more, and Saya and Diva were in similar positions to that of Saya's first reunion with her sister at the Zoo, and after the return of her memories. Diva fisted her hand painfully in Saya's hair, tilting her head back so that her neck lay bare to the steel in her hand. _

_Kissing her cheek soundly, Diva firmly pressed the broken blade to her neck, just above her jugular. A malicious smile formed her fine lips._

"_Your beloved Chevalier isn't here to save you, this time."_

Saya awoke with a strangled cry. Her chest heaved perilously as if it had been deprived of air for minutes too long. Her skin, she noted dully, was lathered in an unhealthy sheen of sweat and her face was unusually dry. She touched the corners of her eyes.

It had been a dream…a hellish nightmare, more as.

She sagged against the headboard of her bed, tired and worn. The fighting had stopped, the bloodshed had stopped, the very _war _had ceased and yet… The Queen weakly buried her face deep within her forever calloused palms.

'_Will it ever stop?'_

It was still dark outside—a thick, heavy darkness that always came before another dawn.

Inner turmoil starting anew, Saya slowly crept from her room and into Yuki's and Yoko's. Appraising them, and seeing that their sleeping was peaceful and undaunted by the nightmares that had plagued her, the tension in her shoulders finally gave way and released.

'_Just a nightmare.'_ She thought with a quiet sigh.

Casting a softening gaze over her shoulder to the twins, Saya left quietly and returned to her own room. Meanwhile, outside the sky had begun to lighten, and a single incision in the heavens gave way to a brilliant crimson. A new day. Her heart began to thud painfully in her chest; her breath catching sharply in her throat.

Dawn had come.

She could feel her face begin to fall, and the bars that had held up her resolve so faithfully over the years, finally shattered.

The slight ruffle of the curtains was the only evidence to her lacking presence. Nothing else stirred.

* * *

Kai awoke to the quiet but persistent tugs on his covers. Groaning as the icy air met his cocoon of warmth, he blindly reached for the sheets and then yanked them roughly back to his chin. 

"Kai!"

The blanket disappeared completely this time with a great sweep and the man was forced to face his intruding daughters. His brown eyes were bleary as he looked upon their faces; concern mirrored between the two of them.

"What?"

Yuki and Yoko gave no heed to the threat in his voice. "It's Auntie Saya, she's missing!"

His eyes sprang open and all his earlier sleepiness dissipated in a mighty rush.

"What?" Kai bellowed, springing from his rumpled bed with a sudden surge of fear fueling his body. "When?" He demanded of the twins, sticking his head in Saya's room for his own confirmation. It was as empty as it had been for the past ten years.

"We felt something…" Yoko said while tugging gently at her hair. "It was some kind of vibration out toward the grave." She cast a quick glance at her sister who nodded in encouragement. "We never felt anything like it before Auntie Saya awoke."

His brows furrowed; eyes lost in thought. Why would Saya leave so early in the morning without telling him first? It made no sense. She just woke up yesterday… she wouldn't do that to him so soon, would she? He breathed deeply, forcing himself to calm down. Miyoko had said she'd felt the vibration toward the grave… maybe Saya was down toward beach—she had always loved the water. He turned to his girls.

"You guys are to stay here, understand? I will call Mrs. Julia and she will be here in just a little while." Seeing the protests in their eyes, he knelt in front of them; hand on each their shoulders. "Stay." He stressed, "Please."

Kai had the phone at his ear before he made it out the door; his desperate plea for Julia's help sounding louder in his own ears now that he was out in the open. He was relieved when she agreed with few questions—and even more relieved that they were still in town. He promised he would explain everything to her when he got back.

He was overreacting, he knew. But as far as he was concerned, as a brother, it was his God-given right to overreact. But that horrid, deeper sense he seemed to possess told him it was something so much more than a walk on the beach.

'_Saya, what are you doing?'_

* * *

In the early days of discovering the origins of her blood, there had been many times Saya had teetered on the edge between her desperate hold on humanity and the sirens call of that precious liquid dear to all humans. Almost always she had grabbed for her humanity. 

But at that moment in her motionless time, Saya wanted nothing more than to be the monster she was.

Racing up the side of the cliff with her Chiropteran-given speed, she knew she was deliberately flaunting her power and was risking her own and that of her nieces' exposure. But it didn't matter—none of it did. Caring was a human emotion, and being human meant she would have to confront this raging emptiness that was forming into a gaping hole inside her chest.

She knew very well that she could be blowing this completely out of proportion and that by some chance, Hagi had survived Amshel's claws, and that he would still come. But the first day had always been critical for Saya. After each awakening, Hagi had been there waiting. That's how it had always been. Now she was awake for the second day, and had even _called_ for him in the case he pulled one of those 'you were content and I did not wish to disturb you' playbacks. And still, she could not even sense him.

Saya reached to the top of the cliff overlooking the vast, gray ocean only to stare passively into the angry waves as they crashed loudly against the rocks.

Strangely enough, at her weakest moment, Saya felt absolutely and terrifyingly indestructible.

She turned away from the compelling scene until she was separated by a distance of thirty feet, then shifted to face the outlook once more. If Hagi were here, he would tell her that she was being foolish. Which she was, for what she was about to do. An 'unnecessary risk' Kai would call it. But where was the risk? Now that Diva was dead she may as well have been invincible (to a certain extent) and the deadliest thing that lived on the earth. Saya felt the urge to _test_ that limit.

Her decision was made in a matter of seconds and within a blink of an eye, Saya's person was sailing high above the crashing water. With the wind blowing painfully in her face, she closed her eyes, allowing her mind to separate from the binds of her body until she simply just _was. _In that instant, she wasn't a Chiropteran. In that instant, she wasn't the woman who had once had the fate of all humanity resting upon her shoulders. In that instant, she was but a girl who had felt she had lost a boy: her best friend, her companion, her love.

She was loosing momentum, and finally Saya opened her eyes to face great mass of water below her. She didn't even bother to extend her hands out before her in the pose of a traditional dive, allowing instead her face to connect solidly with the water's surface. Such a dive might have killed a human, but it only stung like the lashing of a whip upon her face. She kept consciousness even after she was submerged.

Saya didn't allow herself to flounder to the surface as instinct called for, but instead forced herself lay wait and drift with the ocean current. Oh, how easily it would be to loose herself to the weightless feeling. But she could not loose herself—would not loose herself. Yuki and Yoko were still young and needed her guidance in their powers. And yet still, Saya remained unmoving. That's when she heard _his_ voice.

"_Saya, fight!"_

Her eyes snapped open; mind once again solidly connected with her body. His voice sounded just like she had remembered it, and just like when he had told her that he wanted her to _live._

Guilt was the shock to her system and finally she forced her limbs to propel her toward the surface. _'Forgive me, Hagi.'_

* * *

"She'll be fine, Kai." Julia reprimanded the younger man, annoyed by his doubt in her evaluation of Saya. "You saw her walk in here. She just needs her rest." 

Kai gave her a fierce look of utter desperation and confusion. "But why would she do that, Julia? Saya was never so careless in the past."

Julia sighed. Time had done little but mature Kai's reactions to the reasons behind Saya's motives. Would the boy ever develop a conscious understanding for Saya's world?

"That is something you'll have to ask her when she wakes up." To be honest, Julia didn't even know if Saya would be up to answering Kai's persistent questions. She had come in such depleted sprits, Julia wondered if Saya would even be aware of her brother's presence, having been scarcely aware of hers! There had been a deadening behind Saya's deep crimson eyes, and Julia had realized Saya had been resisting her thirst. Her little cliff diving scene depleted what little blood she had left stored. Saya had nearly been withering from the unquenchable thirst.

Kai, who was looking as if he was about to argue, was sharply cut off by Julia.

"Saya is _fine_. Now you need to reassure twins. You're not the only one who is worried about her. Take them to the beach." The lady doctor said after a pause, "They'll enjoy the fresh air. All of you will."

Kai's shoulders fell in defeat and he nodded before leaving the kitchen; heading toward Yuki and Yoko's room, she suspected. Julia gave a tired smile before sitting down on the bar stool.

It had been many hours since Saya had returned, and several more hours since she had been asleep. Julia had been here for the duration of the time watching the twins, and attempting to calm their fears for their Aunt. She found their internal acuteness of Saya faintly intriguing. Maybe later Kai would allow her to look into it.

Drumming her fingers lightly on the countertop, her eyes found her cell phone and a pang of guilt shot through her. She had yet to call David and knew he would be worried or 'concerned' as he liked to put things mildly. It didn't matter, she'd be home eventually. In recent years, Julia had been surprised at her growing resentment for their long periods of separation. She missed his company terribly and her desire for it had not diminished but had grown with ten years of marriage.

Finally, Julia heard the front door slam; the fading voices of the small family barely discernable because of the distance. And it was in the sudden silence of Kai's kitchen that Julia heard the quiet, almost nonexistent hum of a familiar instrument—of a familiar melody.

Julia smiled. Maybe she could go home early after all.

* * *

_Sorry guys, no Hagi just yet but I'm sure by the ending you can sum up what's coming in the next chapter._

_Thanks to all those who have shown their support. Tell me what you think!_

_**Threedaysunrise**_


	4. Where Tomorrow Becomes Today

**Author's Note**: I rather liked this chapter, thought it was a bit harder to write. 'Course, with my luck, this will be either one of those chapters that everyone loves and will review or one that is considered absolutely loathsome and no one will review. Kind of like the last chapter. Stories need building scenes, you know. Ah, well, here it is. A lot of dialogue in this one but it's to be expected. Life would be too easy if your long lost love would suddenly appear and everything returns to normal. It would be nice if it did; a bummer that it doesn't.

* * *

_Chapter Three: Where Tomorrow Becomes Today

* * *

_

The music was soft and alluring, coxing her from her exhausting slumber. Saya's mind was muddled and her body numb. Where was she? The images came back in such a hastened blur that Saya struggled to keep her breathing even. The emptiness inside her heart had scared her, and yet with the memory of his music flowing through her mind, that void began fill.

But it was a dream—a memory.

Saya didn't dare open her eyes in fear of the swelling behind her lids was indeed the tears she had been holding back for some time now. She would not cry. Hagi had wanted her to be happy, had wanted her to smile. And yet accomplishing such a feat seemed near impossible.

Kai had once told her that time would heal all things. She had thought it to be true, too. But that's all she was. A creature of time. She had all the time in the world and while the idea that time would heal all seemed plausible, she knew it was something she could never apply to her life. It was a saying created my mortals whose existence was no longer that a fairies' sigh. Too much had happened already that time could simply not erase—could not mend.

Joel, the man who had taken care of her, who had been the first to raise her; to give her a home; give her a life.

Diva, her sister, and the woman who had destroyed everything she had known, forcing her into a battle of the ages.

Hagi, the boy who had befriended her even when she didn't understand the terms that came with friendship. The one who had gotten himself killed because of her arrogance; the one that had faithfully followed her, even after she had condemned him to a life of agelessness; the one who had sacrificed himself for her upon countless occasions; the one who loved her.

George, her father; the one who had taken her in as his own daughter, even after knowing what she was—even before she did; the one who gave himself for her in the end; the one who gave her a _conscious; _the one who gave her a father's love

Kai, the brother who comforted her when she was down; the person who tried his hardest to keep his family together and to protect them. The person who found the love in his heart to accepted her as his sister even after finding out her history.

And Riku, beloved Riku… The brother who saw only the goodness in people; the brother who did not judge her for sentencing him to a life of immortality; the boy who gave the ultimate sacrifice that ended not only his life, but the war.

No matter how long she lived in the new age, free of fighting, she would _never_ forget how she got to that point.

Awareness came to her, along with the heavy feeling of eyes upon her unmoving person. The gaze, though unmistakable, felt like caress that lingered on her cheek—a touch that a husband gives his wife when he thinks she's not awake. She hadn't realized the music had stopped.

Saya's eyes opened slightly and without so much as a movement, she spoke into the night air.

"Who's there?"

Her voice sounded dead; raspy in her own ears. The dive had taken more out of her than she realized.

There was a stillness in the air as she tensely awaited the reply from the intruder.

"_Saya_," The voice breathed. Her body froze, her heart stopped.

"Hagi?" Her voice was disbelieving. Was this really happening, or was she just hearing things like she had been hearing Diva's voice so evidently in her mind of late? Saya nearly groaned. She didn't want to be haunted by Hagi's memory, as well.

Summing up the courage to sit up, Saya squinted into the darkness of the room, doing her best to make out the filmy silhouette of a man.

"Hagi?" she asked, again. "Is that really you?" Her eyes began to burn.

His response was to step out of the shadows of the doorway and into the moonlight as it cascaded through the window. His form was just as haggard as the last time she had seen it, if not more so. He looked so very tired and worn. The sight broke her heart and yet mended its torn seams. With sudden strength in her legs, Saya pushed herself from the bed and stumbled across the room and into his embrace. Her hands clung tightly to the folds of Hagi's shirt while she rested her head against his forever silent, chiseled chest. She felt an unexplainable, utter joy when his hand came round her hair, cradling her head softly like a child.

"How is this," Her Chevalier's voice was deliberately slow—hesitant, almost. As if he too was unsure of this moment, afraid that it was a dream. "…possible?" he finished.

Tears were still threatening to slip beneath her lashes. "How is _this _possible? You weren't there when I awoke, and I called for you. I couldn't sense you. I thought you had _died._"

It made sense the moment she said the words. How stupid and naïve she was not to have seen it sooner.

"I was in France when I first sensed the waking of your mind." he said. "The pulses were so faint, and all I would see were these images of Diva, of myself, of Riku. I came back only out of a foolish hope that somehow you had awakened early. But still, you slept.

"I left again, and that was when I felt you truly had awaked. I was torn between my own self delusions and what was really occurring. I was—am, still very weak. Your mind had already been so active, why should it be any different? Ten years had scarcely passed.

His deep, baritone voice had gone soft with the wonder of his resolution. Saya didn't dare to look up to his face in fear of her own breakdown.

"But then you called me, and I knew that I couldn't be dreaming, this time. I came back and I was greeted by the sight of you hitting the water…"

So it hadn't been one of her allusions. It had been Hagi, after all. His hidden question trailed off and Saya knew he was waiting for her reasoning.

"I…" She struggled, "was questioning myself—my existence, or my role on this earth. I felt alone." She finally looked up into his worn face and gave a weak smile. "I thought you were really gone."

Gently, almost carefully, Hagi's hand settled on her cheek and gently wiped away the single tear that had escaped. Involuntarily, she leaned into his lingering touch. He seemed to hesitate. The front door could be heard opening.

"If it be in your desire," he said. "We will relocate someplace where we cannot be heard."

* * *

The pair found themselves on the sandy beach and far enough that city lights could not dim its beauty. The moon shown brightly above them, casting moving shadows on the ocean's waves. Saya sat on the ground with her knees drawn tightly to her chest to ward off the chill. Hagi stood behind her. 

"So Kai was right after all." Saya said with a bitter twist of her mouth. How foolhardy she had been! "You came when I called for you."

"We have been bound together for centuries and I promised to always return to you. You doubted me?"

"I have never doubted you, Hagi." She could feel his stare boring into the side of her face. "But that final fight… you went into it believing you weren't coming out. Isn't it only natural that I think the same?"

"Ah," he stated, simply.

"I was afraid." She said. "The prospect of eternity seemed so much bleaker without you by my side."

The air became thick with silence and Saya kept her eyes stubbornly on the sea before her, wishing for its end. After a moment, he spoke:

"So that's why you didn't call for me shortly after the battle." His voice was quiet and unbearably perceptive. Saya slowly nodded.

"I was afraid that if I called you so soon, my fears would be confirmed. I went into hibernation believing, hoping you would be there when I awoke. But you weren't and thanks to Kai, I was pushed into the right decision. He told me to have faith."

"A wondrous thing, faith is. For in truth, Saya, I nearly did die. And even if you had called for me before your sleep, I would not have made it. I still bear the scars of Amshel's claws and probably will for the rest of my feeble existence. And I have been conserving what little energy I had left for ten years now, impossible as it may seem. Maybe it was your faith—your belief that I would return, that kept me alive for the Tomorrow."

Saya gave a vacant, wide-eye stare as she absorbed all that he had said. Hagi had even been able to exceed the limitations of a Chevalier. For her. All for her.

"Hagi?"

"Yes?"

"What you told me at the Met at the very end… do you still mean it?"

The Queen was surprised to hear a soft chuckle breathe past his lips and she looked at him and found a gentle smile upon his usually stoic face. Hagi knelt before her, but did not touch her.

"You have known me for many years, Saya, and though I may have withheld the truth from you, I have never altered it from what it was. I will never lie to you. My feelings for you cannot change during the course of ten years when they have had over a century to grow. My feelings will not fade, Saya. They have passed the test of time again and again and will continue to do so."

His words crumble the dam holding back the flood of emotions and the tears finally came in a steady fall. Grasping his Chiropteran hand tightly in her own, she took in a shaky breath. "Part of me died when I saw you buried.

"I will be frank with you, Hagi, just as you have been with me. I have cared for you deeply over the many years, but have not given love a thought because of the war we had been thrust into. But it was also because I thought myself incapable of being love, incapable of loving someone in such a way."

She felt his hand tighten around her own. She continued on.

"But it's amazing at how ten years worth of dreams reflect the inner struggles, and the truth is that I can't image living this life without you. You were with me close to the beginning, albeit you didn't like me much, but you were there."

There was a hidden smile in his voice when he spoke. "You were young, naïve, and didn't understand the lessons of friendship."

Saya realized that once she found his glorious eyes there was no tearing them away. She reached forward to brush aside a strand of his dark hair.

"Even so, that's how it was. And even then you were bought to be a servant and have known nothing else for a very long time. I always looked at you as my friend and nothing less, but you have always followed my heart's desires, forsaking your own.

"From the bottom of my heart I thank you for remaining by my side. I know putting up with my personality changes wasn't the easiest, but it was worth it. To reach this moment in time, it was all worth it."

Noticing her trembling form, Hagi unbuttoned his coat and gently placed it around her shoulders to which she thanked him quietly.

"Which is why," she continued. "From this moment on, you are a free man; one no longer bound to me as my Chevalier."

Seeing his body stiffen, Saya quickly pressed one before her nerve was lost. "You are free to go, if that be _your_ desire. But I meant what I said at the Met. I want to live with you and Kai and everyone."

With the end of her speech, the stones were set, the wheels were rolling. There was no turning from this moment and neither wanted to. With the same hesitance Hagi showed at the Met, he leaned forward, gently placing his brown on her own; raggedly breathing in her scent. Trembling, Saya remained still as Hagi shifted closer, gently gliding his cheek across her own, relishing in the warmth that radiated from such a simple gesture. His parted lips followed the same path the side of his face had. Saya's breath caught; her heart began to pound.

Facing her again, Hagi held her face in his human hand, allowing his lips to hover just above her own.

"I want to stay," he said in the barest whisper. "_With you_."

With that, Hagi pressed his lips firmly to Saya's. The kiss was soft and tender; slow and coaxing. When both, Queen and Chevalier pulled away, their bodies were trembling from the rush of emotions. Both were home at last. Both had made it—if only just barely, into the Tomorrow that became Today. Saya laced her fingers with his and smiled softly when he pulled it forward to kiss her knuckles.

"I love you." She said.

"And I you."

* * *

Beneath the thin sheets, Yuki and Yoko flashed overjoyed smiles at one another. 

"I knew it would all work out for the best." Yoko boasted.

Yuki made a disbelieving gurgle at the back of her throat. "Liar."

"I am not!"

"Then prove it."

Yoko smiled in such a manner that confused Yuki; smugly. When had Yoko ever acted smug about anything?

"I _saw_ it."

* * *

I'm curious as to see how many people understood the meaning of that last part. I would think it would be glaringly obvious… A Hagi plushy to the best guess on what's to happen. 

And just to settle the score, this story is _not_ finished.

I've decided to hold the next chapter for ransome. The more reviews, the quicker the update so... please review!


	5. Discovery Mishaps: Blood Stirrings

**Author's Note: **Thank you to all who took the time to review. This is the chapter where everything really starts rolling. Though it has a lot of Yuki/Yoko parts this is still most definitely a Hagi/Saya fic. I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter. I was lazy and decided post it so I could start on the next chapter.

So read, review, and enjoy.

* * *

_Chapter Four: Discovery Mishaps and Blood Stirrings

* * *

_

_Six Years Later_

Saya awoke, as she did every morning now, to eyes upon her sleeping form and a gentle caress that followed closely the side of her face to her lips. Though still groggy, Saya gave a sleepy smile and finally gave way to his gentle prodding and opened her eyes. Waking to the sight of him beside her filled Saya with such joy and with such peace that she feared she her heart would burst.

"Good morning." Hagi said with a small smile upon his handsome features. The hand that had been traveling across the skin of her face turned over to where he caressed her cheekbone with the back of his knuckle. She enjoyed the contact, as did he. They had both been without it for so long that neither felt right to deprive themselves of the luxury.

" 'Morning, Love," she replied.

Hands intertwined beneath the sheets, they stared at one another in a compatible silence, relishing their alone-time. When Saya's eyes began to droop again, a gentle squeeze to her hand and a nearly inaudible chuckle brought them back open.

"You mustn't fall asleep so soon, Saya, it's a new day. We must get up to enjoy it."

"I know," she groaned into a long, languid stretch as she forced herself to wake. "So what did you do last night?"

It was her turn to caress his face and draw circles with her fingertip along his neck, and Saya did so with the up most pleasure. She had made it her game to see if she could distract him.

"I watched you," he replied, seemingly unaffected by her careful ministrations. "And I walked along the beach. I have nearly finished the song."

The quiet excitement in his voice brought a smile to her face.

"I can't wait to hear it, my husband, for I am sure it will be just as brilliant as your others."

He caught her hand in his own and kissed it gently; a ploy to get her attention away from distracting him. She wasn't fooled. She never was.

"But I think you will like this one best," Hagi insisted. "There is no title but I am positive you will recognize its story as soon as you hear it."

Saya nodded, a little anxious but also excited about his new piece.

"So what would you like to do today?"

"Whatever you would like to do." His answer was instantaneous, as usual.

Saya sighed. Old habits died _really_ hard. But Saya understood that as her Chevalier it was in his nature—would always be in his nature for her wellbeing. The desire to protect her, Hagi had told her once, had never ceased but had grown so much stronger with their marriage and the years after. Each knew where the other was at all times. A sense that was not unfamiliar, but had strangely strengthened with their intimacy. An internal radar, of sorts.

"Today the girls' go back to school. Would you mind having a quick sparring match with me?"

"Of course."

It wasn't just for Hagi that old habits died hard.

* * *

Kai gave a longsuffering sigh as he listened to the angry cackle of frying eggs. Feeling stiff, he dropped the frying pan to the stove and rolled his shoulders back, wincing when they cracked in protest. He was getting old, or so Yuki and Yoko would tell him. But he didn't think it was old, not really, not when he still had control over all his muscles and was still walking about. He may have thought mid thirties was old at one time, but when you actually get there your perspective of life really changes. 

"Good morning, Kai."

Startled, but making sure it was readily concealed, Kai turned to greet his brother-in-law. Still after so many years the man moved like a freaking ghost; it unnerved him.

"'Morning, Hagi, you made it just in time; breakfast is almost ready. Is Saya coming down soon?"

"Hmm. She's getting out of the shower now… and with quite an apatite."

Kai held back a strangled choke. If it hadn't been for Joel's generous supporting funds, they'd go broke just by the struggle for food. The girls ate more than Saya…

As if in answer to his thoughts, Saya stomped quickly down the stares and into the kitchen where both he and Hagi waited. Slightly curious on her lack of grace seeing as how she could be as silent as Hagi when desired, he blamed in on her haste to get to the food. He wondered if Yuki and Yoko would ever be so attuned to their gifts as their aunt.

He shuddered at the thought. The day Miyuki and Miyoko discovered the whole of their origins would be the day, undoubtedly, when all hell would break loose. Saya had promised to take care of it, Hagi too. But a day of reckoning was inevitable and Kai feared he had failed them as a father. Shoot, he had never even been married before, probably never would be, and here he was raising kids.

For years while they were growing up, Kai had stressed over the notation of being frank with the girls or of acting as if there was nothing to speak of. Saya had settled it when she awoke, saying that they deserved to know. Some wars had been prevented because they learned from their past mistakes; Kai only hoped it would be the same case.

He caught Saya's melancholy stare. She knew of the thoughts going through his mind—especially when they were as intense as these. Their own bond was a little creepy sometimes but was not entirely unwelcome. When compared it to the tie she and Hagi shared, it was feeble and delicate strand of thread that held firm and had grown through the past years. But small as it may be, the connection was still there.

Hagi, who had seemingly been the only one not caught up in his musings, had quietly poured two large glasses of juice just in time for the twins to come bulldozing into the kitchen. Both now sixteen, Miyoko and Miyuki had matured beautifully and Kai felt a swell of pride fill him at the sight of them.

"Morning, Dad, Aunt Saya, Uncle Hagi," Yuki wheezed in one breath. "Sorry, late, gotta go!"

With a quick peck on the cheek, both girls were out the door in a flash.

Kai sighed. Time was moving so fast… Not that the girls were helping it move any slower.

* * *

Yoko always tried to pay attention, she really did, but with the teachers monotone voice and lacking enthusiasm, the class was a utter bore. No matter, she'd catch up. She always did. In fact she probably would have drifted had it not been for the aching of her head preventing her from complete exhaustion. Her night had yet again been filled with confusing dreams, or nightmares, or visions. She really didn't know what to call them 

In them, Yoko had been something feral, something gruesome and frightening. She had been hungry, or rather thirsty…

A hand brushed against her pixie spiked hair and Yoko was thrown from her revive. She gave a mock glare over her shoulder and Ichijo merely smiled. A few seconds after she turned back around, a carefully folded note fell into her lap from behind. Quickly, but quietly, she unfolded it.

'_Headache?'_ It read

Yoko grinned. Ichijo knew her too well. Scribbling down her reply she handed him back the note; waiting for his answer.

'_No, it wasn't obvious. Do you want me to walk you to the nurse?'_

This time, she angled back in her chair to stare into his handsome, passive features and gave him a smile and a wink. "Thanks but I'll be fine."

He shrugged and they both turned back to the lecture. But despite of her valiant efforts to stay awake, within an hours' time she began to drift…

_There is darkness; Impenetrable, suffocating black that crawls along the flesh. _

_And it's raining. Cold, wet, biting. _

_A single light. Hope? Beckoning her closer. "Hurry," it whispers. "Light is safety, warmth— mercy!"_

_But she is not quick enough. Animalistic howls sound, guttural voices growl. Crimson eyes glower. She is surrounded._

_The sound of steel through flesh, hoards of pain and dying gurgles, then nothing._

_Alone again. Silent, but then a _click.

_A woman is standing beneath the light. Eyes of scarlet, glowing, glaring. Sword, dripping, oozing red._

_The woman's eyes burn her skin. "Diva," she hisses._

_Yoko falls_

The dream/vision ended sharply and Yoko came to with a startling cry that caught the eyes of every single person in the class, but she was oblivious. Her chest heaved as if from over-exertion.

"Aunt _Saya_?" she gasped.

* * *

Though the woman's hair had been short, it had hung long against the frame of her face. Piercing, luminescent, scarlet eyes had glared down upon her until she collapsed by the sheer power that had radiated from her. 

And it had been Saya. Her aunt.

Yoko's visions were never usually wrong, but they were never usually this strange.

Having felt faint, Ichijo, in all his compassion helped her to the infirmary stopping only when she asked it. Thankfully he knew her well enough not to inquire about her outburst so they traveled in silence.

When they reached the infirmary door, before even, a sort of unease and anxiousness had filled her. The heady, metallic scent of blood came with it. She walked it, regretting it instantly.

It was quite an innocent scene and Yoko had never been an anemic or was never sickened by the sight of blood. But looking at the freshman boy's knee gaping open and the blood slithering down his leg, her stomach suddenly turned—she began to feel weak.

"Mrs. White!" Ichijo suddenly urged, supporting Yoko's limp form.

"Quickly, boy," the old foreign woman chortled on. "Put her down on the bed and close the curtain."

From here things were no longer clear for Ichijo's voice and the nurse's melded into distant echoes, fading with the passing seconds. The salty smell of blood became the prominent source of her senses—her body reacting to it painfully causing her writher in silent agony in her dainty curtain of seclusion. If she did not get out of there she feared she would burst.

'_What's happening to me?'_

* * *

Yuki took a single, long drag of her cigarette then, making a face of distaste, threw the stick into the roaring ocean below. She growled. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to acquire a taste for them. No matter. It was of no consolation to her. 

Here in her peaceful haven by Aunt Saya's old tomb, Yuki would often come to get away from the wiles of the day sometimes skipping school in the process (thankfully Kai had yet to find out) like today. Sure, she loved her family and her home and her school (to a certain extent) but she could not deny this restlessness for something more. For adventures, some would claim, but Yuki felt it was something so much greater… she could sense it. Ugh! It was just so frustrating; she had this magnificent power and strength within her possession and she couldn't do anything worth while with it!

The sound of clanging metal broke her musings, startling her. No one came up here, not anymore. So quickly chucking the box of smokes in the bushes along with her satchel, Yuki crept forward with as much silence as she could muster; ducking in and out of bushes and branches to help conceal her. When she finally reached the source of the sound, her eyes widened at what she saw.

Aunt Saya stood with her back to Yuki, holding a long, burgundy Japanese sword in her hand. Hagi stood across from her; a dagger in his own bandaged hand.

'_Gees'_ she thought, _'if this is how they act during a tiff, I'd hate to see them absolutely pissed at one another.'_

And that was just it. She had never seen the pair argue or fight; they had been filled with such love for each other. So then why were they _fighting?_ With blades, no less…

Abruptly, Hagi disappeared from her vision and Saya followed quickly after. She did her best to follow them with her eyes, she really did, but was failing miserably.

Appearing in a branch above, Saya lunged earthward with the sword in front and her weight behind it, increasing its momentum. Hagi, also appearing, easily blocked himself with that giant cello case of his. But with the force of gravity on Saya's side, the collision sent Hagi descending back to the ground. He caught himself gracefully and retaliated by throwing two daggers at Saya's own falling person to which she just barely avoided.

Fascinated, Yuki watched the battle take place and their sequences become more strenuous. She knew that she and Yoko were like Saya and Hagi, but their power just seemed so far beyond her own. Never had they shown the twins such a raw display of their power.

A particularly hard attack from Saya caused the bandage on Hagi's hand to unravel. At first she thought that it must pain him. Kai had told her that his hand had been left deformed after a terrible accident, and told her never to ask of it. Obediently, she hadn't, but now she wished she had.

The hand wasn't deformed… it just wasn't human.

Distracted, Yuki cried out in horror as one of Hagi's wickedly jeweled daggers hit the tree to which she had leaned on for support, landing close to her face.

"Who goes?" She heard Saya demand.

Too frightened to speak or muster any sort of plausible response, Yuki made as if to run but was stopped dead when Saya suddenly appeared behind her, glaring at her with brightened mahogany eyes that flickered to their normal shade when recognition flashed within them.

"Miyuki?"

Yuki gave a nervous smile, glancing briefly at Hagi's stoic figure behind her.

"Hi, guys."

* * *

Yoko didn't know how or when, but she forced herself to flee from the oppressive room and chill-raising smells and out into the fresh air where she breathed with exaggerated deepness until the grinding in her gut lessened to small pangs. 

But still, Yoko found herself in the shadows of one of the school buildings on her knees, squeezing her stomach as if it were the only thing holding her insides in. The soft clicking of a tongue sounded, distracting her from the pain and to the horror of being discovered. Reluctantly, she looked into the face of the stranger.

"So finally your true colors start to show." He said with a saucy grin. "It's about time."

* * *

_Now who is that character? Hmm? We'll you guys get to tell me that lovely little detail. _

_If you like this story well enough then please review. Your input fuels my passion for writing. And Lord knows I need it nowadays._


	6. Diva's Legacy Restored

**A/N: **Thanks for all the reviews! They are what motivate me. So read, review, and enjoy.

* * *

_Chapter 5: Diva's legacy restored

* * *

_

"So finally your true colors start to show." He said with a saucy grin. "It's about time."

Yoko froze. Her eyes widened like a deer that had been caught unawares by a blinding light. There was no way this man could know so much. Maybe he didn't know but knew there was something to her strange behavior but had no proof… yes, he was trying to fool it out of her. She bit her lip. Even her reasoning sounded daft in her own mind, so instead she played dumb.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh?" he raised a delicate brow and folded his arms. "You're not very convincing, you do realize that don't you?"

Lips thinning, Yoko edged farther away until her back met a wall and she could move no more.

"Who are you?" she hated how her voice quavered. Why couldn't she have her sister's defiance just this once?

Blue eyes shimmering, the man before her gave a sweeping bow. "You can call me Nathan. I have watched you and your sister since you were very young, waiting for this moment. I was a servant of your dear departed mother, Diva."

The world around her faded and became focused solely on him.

"You knew my mother?"

He knew he had her undivided attention then. The look in her eyes imparted as such. "I knew your mother very well, and I knew what she was. You and, we are exactly the same as her. Now I know what I am and what she was, but the question remains: do_ you_ know what you are?

She shook her head. Kai had never told them the source or the reason behind her and Yuki's abilities. Even Saya who shared the same traits had said nothing. Her body tensed as he knelt before her, his eyes becoming taunting, daring her to admit the questions of her heart. _Who was she? What was she?_

"You are a creature whose blood gives you unimaginable power," he whispered softly, "You are a _Queen_ of the unholy who answers to no one, just as your mother was. Diva lived the pleasure of the day and wouldn't have wanted you to be bound by her sister's _constricting_ morals."

Yoko's black brows furrowed. "I don't understand."

"Then let me show you," he said, "Let me show you Diva."

* * *

A familiar unease filled her gut as gazed distractedly out the window and to the sun as it glowed with the fiery orange of a fading day. Saya closed her eyes, spanning her fingers along the glass. She turned to Hagi. 

"Something doesn't feel right. I must go."

The faded blue eyes of her lover stared back at her unflinchingly for several seconds; a penetrating look that always sent the gooseflesh on her arms rising. He could ask her to stay and that he go in her stead, but centuries of knowing her told him that she would refuse. Her former Chevalier didn't cast a glance at Yuki who sat on the couch in the upstairs living room as he slowly made his way to his cello case and to its familiar hidden compartment where he freed her sword.

Leveling it out in his hands, he handed to her formally. "Come back to me." He said softly—pleadingly, almost. The sound of it made her heart ache. He sensed something was amiss, too.

So instead she forced a smile to grace her lips and nodded resolutely. With quick and ever graceful movements she sped through their bedroom window and into the night air; free and careless.

Vaguely she heard Hagi's quiet, whispering words.

"_Saya, fight."_

* * *

Yoko couldn't believe what she was hearing. "My mother… is alive?" 

Nathan heaved a sigh. "No, my dear, unfortunately that is not what I meant. You have a gift for things both seen and unseen. I can show her to you through that." He leaned back on his heels, slipping his hand beneath the flare of his shirt. "This," he said, "is a piece of fabric off one of the dresses your mother wore. Just touch it and your questions will be answered."

He held the faded cream cloth to her as if holding out a hand that was given to seal a deal or a pact. But that's all it was. Up until now she had only been able to see glimpses of Aunt Saya's dark past and pictures of Yuki's own gallant future. Nothing of her own and nothing of her mother's. This was her chance to find those missing pieces… her missing pieces. And her mother was going to help her.

She made to touch the cloth slowly, not hesitant out of fear but in reverence. Her hand connected with the soft fabric and the world around her ceased to exist.

_Things cold, dark, empty. There is fear, there is confinement, and there is loneliness._

_Hate._

_Creaking sound and then there is freedom. Freedom frees hate, frees vengeance. Sweet liquid runs past her teeth, past her throat. Power, raw power. Nothing can stop her, nothing can hope to._

_Except for sister._

_Then fighting; years and years of fighting._

_Tall, calm, regal, proud._

_Eyes translucent, blue, glowing; knowing smile upon pale lips._

_Desire, passion, excitement, hunger. Tempting music, guttural voices following closely with her song._

_Alone, then another appears._

_Scarlet eyes glare._

_Seething rage, serene eyes, burning envy…_

_Fighting, falling…_

_Darkness…_

* * *

As Saya raced through the city, in and out of its luminescent lights a voice that had long since been silent, spoke; cackling with laughter. 

'_Big sister, I told you that you couldn't stop the inevitable… Curiosity only grows.'_

A grimace flashed across her features.

'_History is repeating itself…'_

She ran faster.

* * *

Nathan felt her pulsing power long before he even saw it. It seemed Saya was being a little too careless in flaunting her power… then again, everything that had been a threat to her and her precious family had been eliminated. Or so they thought. 

"_You,"_

The Chevalier spared a glace to Diva's daughter slumped on the asphalt before turning to face the scarlet-eyed Queen.

"Yes, me," he said cheekily, "I'm sorry, Saya, but I'm not as easy to kill as dear James or even Solomon. Are you surprised and happy to see me?"

She glared at him, her teeth clenching together in a most vicious way. Her glowing crimson eyes moved from him to Yoko's listless form and they grew brighter in their haze of anger.

"What did you do to her?"

Grinning at the irony of it all, Nathan brushed aside a stray strand of his golden mane. "I simply told her what you wouldn't."

At that moment Yoko chose to stir from her temporary coma and her eyes caught sight of Saya's bleeding eyes and the sword in her hand. The two Queens stared at one another for what seemed like ages but both knew only seconds could have passed. Yoko's eyes had grown angry and bitter tears began to escape the corners of her eyes; betrayal shown in them almost as if Yoko's own eyes had began to glow as her Aunt's.

The damage had been done.

Even beyond the grave Diva had managed to restore her legacy and Saya hated her for it.

* * *

_Rather short, I know but please impart your thoughts. Your reviews are what inspire me to keep writing. I want to hear from all of you!_

_Please Review!

* * *

_

_:TDS:_


	7. Nankurunaisa Once More

I'm back, and for good... hopefully. Thanks so much for those who reviewed the last chapter of Embracing Eternity. I hope you enjoy the new one. And have mercy, there was no beta.

* * *

_Chapter 7; Nankurunaisa Once More_

"Why didn't you tell me?" Furious tears had begun to roll down Yuki's cheeks and her eyes were flickering between realms of mahogany and translucent scarlet. She was tapping into the power of her blood. "The years of transfusions… the secrets, Aunt Saya? All this time I've been living with a _murderer._ Why did you lie?"

"I didn't lie!" Saya snapped out of her shocked haze to rise to her own defense. "Not once have I lied to you."

"But you withheld the truth." She glared.

"I kept the truth from you because I knew you weren't ready to handle it. I didn't want to place centuries of pain and blood on you and your sister at the age of sixteen. You see how you've reacted with just a glimpse of the past? I doubt that you've seen the worst of it."

Yuki's anger deadpanned but she still held tight to her angry façade.

Nathan, who had watched the wonderfully dramatic scene unfold before him, took this chance to step in, grabbing Yuki around the shoulders much like a dear friend would. Saya hissed as he drew her close.

"Now, now, Saya. Yuki has every right to be angry. You failed to tell her who she was and who you are. Now you must reap the consequences of your actions." His coy taunts pushed the Queen over the edge and she answered by drawing her sword.

"How are you alive, Nathan? I killed you with my blood."

Diva's former Chevalier gave her that infuriating grin that flashed his pearly whites. "Even you should remember that I always had a flare for the dramatic. Ah, it was a perfect ending, don't you think? The faithful Chevalier gives himself willingly because he can't bear life anymore without his precious Queen…"

"Enough!" She snapped and lunged at him with a yell of exertion. Nathan veered to the left, his lips forming an "Oh" as the blade skimmed his cheek. She followed him step for step, thrusting and feinting her blade and each time he just narrowly dodged. Saya gritted her teeth and swiped her hand across the base of the blade, watching as the blood quickly slipped inside its destined grooves and filled its canals until it spilled over and splotched onto the cold concrete.

"Careful," Nathan warned, "Want to keep it 'G-rated in front of the children."

The Queen stopped, twisting around to meet Yuki's suddenly horrified stare. The burning scarlet in her own eyes flickered and died; the anger in her blood went cold. "Yuki…"

"Shall we reenact the night you killed your sister, Saya? I'll be you and you can be Diva. Come, watch closely, Yuki."

Nathan took advantage of Saya's distraction and weak defense to grab her lowered sword. Before she could react, the enemy Chevalier thrust her own blade deep within the soft folds of her belly and she gasped, blood quickly rising to her throat and seeping through her clothes. Having fallen forward on the blade, she gripped Nathan's shoulders as if resisting an embrace. Somewhere behind them Yuki screamed.

"Don't worry, dear." He cooed softly. "You saw the vision. But this was how your beloved mother looked when Saya ran her through." A smile formed his lips in reaction to Saya's leer and he looked back at Yuki over her shoulder.

"All Diva wanted was a family. And Saya took that away from her." The blade was jerked roughly from her gut and Saya fell to the ground as a listless heap.

"Stop twisting it!" Was all that managed to escape her gasp before she gagged on the blood still rising in her throat. Saya looked to Yuki and stilled at the look upon her niece's face.

"You… killed my mother?

Events in Yuki's mind had become ruthlessly twisted and warped by Nathan's half-truths and for the first time that night Saya feared loosing her. "There's…" she choked again; attempting to push herself up. Her body was already beginning to heal. "…more to it."

"You killed her?" Yuki repeated again and Saya realized that she couldn't see past her own part in Diva's death.

"Yes."

Somewhere in the background thunder growled contemptuously. An eerie silence enveloped the three.

"And she was prepared to take the lives and you and your sister, too." Nathan interjected with a false somberness.

Yuki's countenance went from shocked to one of careful indifference. Saya became worried by her niece's lack of emotion and absence of reaction.

"Is it true?" she asked quietly.

Saya turned fierce. "It's true but had I taken your lives that night I would have followed right behind you."

Nathan stepped over Saya's immobile person and up to the now marble Yuki. He patted her head with the same sickening fondness that he had bestowed on Diva. "Come, Miyuki, and I will teach you of the pleasures of your mother's ways. You don't have to deny your gifts any longer."

Saya watched with a growing wretchedness as her niece was led away by the enemy thought to have been dead.

"Yuki, please…" she whispered into the crook of her arm but it was no use.

* * *

Hagi looked to the door long before Saya opened it and his eyes grew wide at the sight of her bloody clothes and grime-ridden body.

"Saya!"

"I'm alright." She brushed aside his worry without glancing up. "Just a little beat up." It was an understatement and they both knew it. The last time either of them had suffered such severe damage had been during their century long fight with Diva. Before another word was spoken, Yoko's explicative rang through the upstairs hall quickly followed by Kai's reprimand. Together they stampeded down the narrow stairs and trailed to a stop when they saw Saya.

"What happened?" Her brother demanded.

"Dad!" Yoko gave her father an insufferable glare. "Can't you see she's hurt?" Yoko, still naïve in their heritage, rushed to her aunt to take a look at the damage done only to step back in shock when she saw that there was no incision where there should have been.

Saya looked at them all gravely.

"We need to talk."

* * *

Yoko couldn't seem to breathe. All eyes were on her.

"I'm… We're…"

Surprisingly, it was Hagi who answered her. "Yes, you, your sister, Saya and I are of the same decent. We are Chiropterans who have chosen another path from what instinct calls us to do. You're mother was Saya's sister, the one who tried to destroy the world and everyone in it."

It was all too much to absorb at that moment. Was her heart even still beating? She honestly couldn't tell. Her mother had been a blood thirsty creature who had raped and killed her father; who had ultimately been the cause of her grandfather George's death. Her mother, Diva… had made Saya and Hagi and Kai's lives so miserable. Yoko had been so eager for adventure, to make herself unique, and already her very existence was a blemish. She was but a spec in a tapestry of woven colors. She was a monster.

Saya, perceptive as ever, looked intently at Yoko while gently brushing aside her eye-length bangs as a way of comfort. "Nankurunaisa. I chose to accept who I was and to live for the Tomorrow." She gave a small smile towards Hagi. "You're not alone in who you are."

"And Yuki let herself be caught up on the other Chevalier's lies?"

Her aunt's jaw tightened. "Yuki's gift allows her to see specific things. What Nathan showed her may have had part in twisting the truth."

"Well, we have to find her before its too late!"

"No," Kai interjected roughly. "Nathan won't be found until he wants to. We're all tired. We'll discuss what we're going to do tomorrow. Saya?"

She nodded and Yoko glared at them all. "She's my sister." And she ran up the stairs, anger making the sound of her accent that much louder.

Kai buried his face in the palms of his hands. "I thought this was all over."

* * *

The late hours of the night had faded and the early moments of the morning had scarcely begun as Saya sat at her spot on the beach with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees to ward off the chill that had begun to settle in her bones. The moon cast its soft glow across her skin, and she watched bemused as it made her appear translucent. She closed her eyes.

"Saya?"

Startled, she looked over her shoulder and gave a fake smile to her beloved as he slowly strode forward; his cello case once again strapped onto his back.

"Are you okay?" There was concern in his blue gaze has he knelt down slowly beside her. She touched the curve of his jaw lovingly before leaning into his warm embrace.

"No, but I will be."

"We both knew this might happen."

"Doesn't mean that I was prepared for it." She said, wearily.

"I have a theory." He returned somberly and Saya looked to him. "Your blood didn't kill Nathan and we know your sword was doused with it as it struck him. The only way he could survive is if he wasn't Diva's blood Chevalier. I believe he is first generation Chevalier."

She froze. "My mother?"

The title sounded foreign to her own ears. She had never suffered from the absence of a mother, having been raised by Joel and, in a sense, by David Senior and Junior, and then finally George who she had given the title of Father to. She had been brought up on the knees of men—fought at their wills, too. But she knew of the creature that bore her and Diva but never thought of her as 'mother'.

Hagi nodded. "It explains the sudden lack of potency in your blood."

"But if that's true, Hagi, then that means my blood would have no effect on either of the twins or of the Chevaliers they might create. Their blood is only poison to each other…" She trailed off, quietly contemplative.

"Yes," his voice became intense as she ever heard it. "But you must keep hope that Yuki will pull out of Nathan's hold. And if the worst will arrive you must have faith that Yoko will rise to the defense of humanity. Our own time of fighting has passed. You must now prepare the next generation."

Hagi's words made sense. He always seemed able to make light of things where Saya was never willing. After she had regained her memory, she had desperately wished the task of fighting the Chiropterans would fall to another. But there was no one who could handle the burden. Now, many years later, the task falls to another and Saya had never felt so helpless and useless. She wanted to scorn the irony of it all.

"I know."

He grabbed her chin and forced her to face him.

"Nankurunaisa." He said for the second time since that faithful night at the Met. "Don't worry so much. The troubles of Tomorrow will come soon enough."

"Hagi's right, Saya." Both turned around at Kai's sudden appearance. Her brother looked worn out beneath the moon's light and his mussed hair and clothes spoke of a restless sleep. He smiled sadly at her.

"Just like dad use to say."

Overcome, Saya turned to bury her head in Hagi's neck.

"Thank you, guys."

* * *

I don't know why but I liked this chapter. In enjoyed writing it and everything. But the question is did _you_ like it?

And I would like to stress the fact that, as much as it might seem, this is _not_ Yuki and Yoko's story. Just like from the summery, EE belongs to Saya and Hagi.

Please review! You're thoughts are what motivate me and inspire me to write. Come friend me on LJ!

:TDS:


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